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Introduction to Linux - A Hands on Guide

This guide was created as an overview of the Linux Operating System, geared toward new users as an exploration tour and getting started guide, with exercises at the end of each chapter.
For more advanced trainees it can be a desktop reference, and a collection of the base knowledge needed to proceed with system and network administration. This book contains many real life examples derived from the author's experience as a Linux system and network administrator, trainer and consultant. They hope these examples will help you to get a better understanding of the Linux system and that you feel encouraged to try out things on your own.

In my "cd burning anyone?" thread, I learned that I could download .tgz files especially designed to be used by the installpkg software. A little googling put me on my way to learning the other nice little pkg tools offered in Slackware. Now heres the question,

Where do you Slackers hide all them there .tgz at, pilgrim?......lol

I have found the linuxpackages.net site. Are there any others?

I am so freakin in love with Slackware! I have finally found my beloved distro!!!

Or you look into the Slackbuild buildscripts. They are on CD 3 and 4 or on the slackware servers. With this you can create easily an tgz package for special applications that you cannot find on the Slack CDs or on linuxpackages.net. With buildscripts you don't have the same limitations like checkinstall (but checkinstall is nice).

I either tend to either use packages from the slackware ftp site, or one of its mirrors, or if a package is not available I tend to compile from source and use checkinstall so that I have a means of uninstalling if I wish as many Makefiles don't include an uninstall, remove or deinstall target. Its a rare occasion when I use a third party site like linuxpackages.net for packages but it has been known.

Some software developers may distribute a slackware package aswell as a debian or fedora core package but thats quite rare aswell

I might as well ask here as we're talking about installpkg/upgradepkg. I do my upgrades from upgrade cdrom disks because I only have access to dialup at home (some packages are quite big). What I like to know is if installpkg or upgradepkg has a switch that installs packages after a certain package creation date, or upgrade packages only if the target is an earlier version. Unless one knows the limitations of the slack package handlers, they have to used with caution.

It does what you're looking for. It's normally used to locate and install patches and other upgraded packages from the various Slackware mirror sites, but it can be configured to work from a local repository (like a cd, etc.) of packages.

upgradepkg checks the package version number against what is installed -no dates or dependency checking. It then installs the new package, removes the old package and reinstalls the new one again, and then changes the name of the package in /var/log/packages to show that it's an upgrade.
When doing upgrades to basic GUI stuff (like X itself), do the upgrade from the command line. When upgrading basic system packages like the C libraries or init packages, it's best to do that remotely -I mean use a rescue disk or boot from the install CD. Upgrading basic system libs while running those libs is very tricky and can lead to disasters.
Personally I rarely upgrade anything unless I have very goos, specific reason. Security updates should always be applied -these will show up the /patches directory of stable releases on your favorite Slackware mirror (google for 'getslack').
Otherwise, I don't upgrade unless I need a specific new feature that comes with a certain version. In fact I sometimes DOWNgrade in order to use a lighter, handier version, or to achieve/maintain compatiblity with another specific package.

The OP asked where else to get Slack packs, other than linuxpackages.net..... Such places seem to come and go. You might occasionally do a google search. The Slackware gnome sites (freerock, dropline, linuce, etc.) obviously have a lot of packages available but you may have to do full install to use them. Alot of Slack users do not use anything from linuxpackages as they prefer to roll their own as mentioned above.Converting rpm2tgz is usually not recommended and should only be used if there is a real reason to do it (proprietary binary for one) as it is not a dependable process.

i must agree with the guy who mentioned checkinstall its a great little program. basically you use checkinstall in place of 'make install' during the './configure && make && make install' process and a .tgz file is created that you can install with installpkg and remove likewise with removepkg. i highly recommend this program it's easy to use and comes in handy!